Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 100226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
“Let me?” She laughs softly and cups my cheek in her hand. “Oh, husband. Are you under the impression that you can boss me around?”
“Hell yes, and you’ll fucking listen, or I’ll spank your ass.”
“Kinky.” She kisses me, and then her face crumples, and she starts to cry again, and I simply pull her against me, holding her tight. “I want to go home.”
“I know, baby. The others are on their way over here. I want Blake to look at you before I put you on a horse.”
“Blake?” She frowns at me, the surprise pausing her tears. “Who’s been out here searching?”
“Your whole family, my guys, and the Blackwells. And if I didn’t find you by dark, I’d have called in all of Bitterroot Valley. Make no mistake, little rose, I will find you anywhere.”
“Holden!”
“Over here,” I call out in reply. “Be careful! Don’t fall into this fucking hole and kill us!”
Suddenly, about eight heads lean over the top of the hole, staring down at us.
“What the fuck is this?” Ryan demands, glaring down into the hole.
“I don’t fucking know,” I growl back at him. “But I’ll find out. Now, get us out of here.”
“Holden, can you bend down and get Millie on your shoulders, and then we can grab her hands and lift her out?”
Without an answer, I do exactly that, ignoring the spray of mud from her shoes as I stand with her on my shoulders.
“Reach up, Mill,” Chase says, his voice hard as he reaches down for her. “Grab me with one hand and Bridger with the other.”
“My hands are wet and slippery,” she says, tears in her voice.
“It’s okay, we’ve got gloves,” Bridger replies. “We’ve got you, baby. Come on.”
Suddenly, she’s lifted off of me, and I look up to see her disappear over the side of the hole.
Levi has a rope in his hands and peers down at me with Ryan and Remington. “I’m going to lower this, and my horse is going to help you climb out, okay, boss?”
“Excellent.”
He tosses the rope down, and I grab it. I’m able to easily climb the wall with the help of the horse pulling me.
Immediately, I drop next to Millie where she sits on the ground, and Blake is already sitting beside her, his first aid kit open at his side.
“Hey, Mill.” Blake is the doctor in the Blackwell family, and he’s smiling at my girl. “I hear you got hurt.”
“My ankle,” she says, lifting her right foot that’s caked in mud. “I think it’s just twisted. Hurts like a bitch.”
I hear Remington and his brothers talking, but I ignore them and concentrate on Blake’s hands on Millie.
If he wasn’t a doctor and a friend of mine, he’d be losing those hands.
“It’s swollen,” he murmurs as he peels off her sock and shoe, revealing white skin under all that wet dirt. “Pretty bruised up already. Definitely looks sprained to me.”
He moves it around, making her wince, but he seems satisfied.
“No break here. Keep it elevated with ice and ibuprofen for a couple of days. Try to stay off of it so it can heal up.” He quickly checks her over, looking for any other injuries. “You didn’t hit your head?”
“Not hard.”
I growl down at her, and she shakes her head.
“The second time I fell—”
“There was a second time?” I demand.
“I tried to hang on to the roots to climb out, but they gave way, and I fell back. Not far. Hit the dirt, but didn’t see stars or anything. I’m fine.”
“I’m not,” I growl and tighten my hold on her.
“Any other places that hurt, Millie?” Blake asks, ignoring me.
“My throat hurts from screaming and singing. I have a bruised ass, and I’ll probably have a little PTSD for a while, but I’m okay. Mostly, I just got cold from the rain.”
“Singing?” Chase asks with a smirk. “Were you trying to scare away the wildlife?”
“You’re a riot in a crisis. I bet your coworkers love working with you. I knew that I had to make noise if anyone was going to hear me.” She clears her throat. “And screaming is really exhausting.”
“Baby girl,” I whisper, kissing her head.
“Take her home, get her cleaned up, and let her rest for a few days,” Blake says to me, his shrewd eyes all business. “If you want a list of therapists, I can get that to you.”
Out of all the shit I’ve been through in my life, this might be the thing that sends me to a therapist.
“Are there more of these holes along the property line?” Brady demands as I help Millie to her feet.
“I didn’t know this one existed,” I remind him. “I’ve been all over this ranch a million times, and I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“Us either,” Levi says, shaking his head.
“We know this land by heart,” Vance speaks up. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”